This invention is directed to the providing of a solar energy heating panel for incorporation in a side wall of a building to be utilized in the providing or preserving of heat in a structure such as a residential home. This solar panel does not form the side wall itself, but is incorporated in portions of an exterior wall and functions to either extract solar radiation heat by transfer to air that can flow through the panel structure to other areas of the housing structure or to prevent this transfer of solar radiation heat.
Several types of solar wall systems are known for use in conjunction with windows, wall units, or building panels as a means for utilizing solar radiation in heating a structure. Some of these systems utilize louvered plates to assist in transfer of the heat. Angilletta, U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,159, discloses a venetian blind for solar heating. The arcuately shaped blind slats have one side coated with a radiation absorptive substance and the other side coated with a radiation reflective material. Ambient air from a room passes between the several slats of the blind and is heated, depending on the positioning of the slats of the blind, and returned to the room through openings at an upper end of the blind structure.
Louvered plates are also utilized in Bourne, U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,359. Bourne discloses a flat plate solar air heater which permits low angle solar radiation to enter a black-surfaced absorbing chamber. The top and bottom of the chamber are adapted to having air conveying duct work interconnected thereto to enable transfer of air from a room through the heater. Similarly, Pedersen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,313, discloses a flat plate solar air heater in which the plates may be oriented at various angles to more efficiently receive radiant energy. These plates also have a surface coating to aid in absorption of energy.
The solar heating panels as exemplified by these three patents are representative of the known structures of this type which essentially comprise a plurality of surfaces over which the air must flow in effecting a heat transfer. Additionally, it is known to coat the surfaces of the louvered plates to enhance their heat absorption capability and to mount the plates or slats on pivots to enable selective positioning for control of their functioning.
While louvered plate systems are known, those systems disclosed in the noted patents all possess limitations. First, and most importantly, is the degree of heating efficiency associated with the utilization of plates to absorb the energy. A single plate has a limited amount of energy which it can store and a limited surface area for either absorption of radiation or transfer of heat to the air flowing over the plate. Even though Angilletta attempts to increase efficiency by making the plates arcuately shaped instead of flat, the degree of increased efficiency associated with such an improvement is not substantial. Not only would a louvered system having a greater surface area be capable of absorbing more energy, but it would also be capable of transferring more energy in an efficient manner to air that is caused to flow over that surface by either convection currents or forced circulation.